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Greenville man on reality TV show survives in the woods for 6 days

Spending a week romping about the wilderness of northern Michigan in the heart of winter may not seem like a good time to most people, but to Jeff Bannister, foraging for food and water sans cell phone in freezing temps was a chance to reset his life.

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Spending a week romping about the wilderness of northern Michigan in the heart of winter may not seem like a good time to most people, but to Jeff Bannister, foraging for food and water without a cell phone in freezing temps was a chance to reset his life.

The 50-year-old Greenville resident spent one week in December traipsing through the woods, surviving off wild animals he caught and building shelters out of whatever he could find as a one of the featured participants on the Weather Channel show, "Fat Guys in the Woods."

The show, which premiered last year, begins its second season June 7. Bannister, along with two other men, appears in the first episode.

On the show, master survivalist Creek Stewart takes three average guys into the woods and teaches them how to survive off the land.

"I just had an adventure and it was wonderful," says Bannister, who works as a process server but is also known in the community for Bovinoche, his unique whole animal cooking experience and food fest. "I think for some people it was life changing. Some were looking for deep lessons I think and I just need another adventure."

Producers for the show say Bannister beat out thousands of other applicants for one of the 24 spots on the 8-episode season. The idea, says the show's co-executive producer, Evan Goldstein, is to find people who represent more the average person.

"A lot of times, these guys represent the audience, maybe their problems or perspective or their identity," Goldstein says. "Sometimes, you watch survival shows on television and it's experts eating things and showing you how to dig a hole for water and build shelters, but this offers the everyday Joe a chance to try it."

Bannister is no stranger to reality TV. The local businessman has appeared on The Food Network, The Food Channel and The Travel Channel over the years. But this was a little different, he says. For one thing, there was no food.

"I'm a big eater," Bannister says. "I eat three meals a day, sometimes five. The only thing you'll eat on that show is what you forage or what you catch or kill. There are no late night suppers. The fire you have is the fire you make."

The idea behind "Fat Guys in the Woods," is to take people out of their element and away from their dependence on modern technology and force them to reconnect to nature. Participants spend six days in the woods, during which time their focus is food, fire, water and shelter.

"It is a survival show, but it's also kind of a self-empowerment show at the same time," said Goldstein. "So we have to narrow it down to people who want to be on the show for the right reasons, because it's not just about building fires and building shelters and creating opportunities for yourself; it's about learning something about yourself."

Bannister's path back to nature began in a very modern way, with a tweet. He'd become a fan of the first season of "Fat Guys in the Woods," and tweeted at the show that he'd like to be a contestant. The tweet back had a link to the application.

Bannister applied and got a call in November. Three weeks and a Skype interview later Bannister was in the backwoods of northern Michigan along with two other men from other parts of the country.

"I've only been in snow over six inches deep twice in my life," Bannister says. "That was the second time."

Bannister took his list of clothing he'd need to the local Cabela's on Woodruff.

"I showed them the list of stuff I needed and the woman laughed," Bannister recalls. "She said, sir you've got to go to Cabela's in Montana to get this."

The details of the show are of course secret for now, but Bannister explains the difficulty of spending six days in the woods.

"We have constant information all the time and people can't imagine going without that stuff," Bannister says, reflecting on the experience. "And here we are with none of it and it frees you up. We've forgotten what the four main things we need are – food, fire, water and shelter.

"It reinforced to me it's more important to have experiences than stuff."

And he'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Catch Bannister in the first episode of the second season of "Fat Guys in the Woods," which airs on The Weather Channel at 9 p.m. EST June 7.